Normally, when a patient sees a doctor or other care provider, the patient is put into an examination room. The care provider then retrieves the patient's “paper file” which may contain test results and a medical history. Generally, this “paper” medical history deals only with the interactions between the particular care provider and the patient and does not include or includes only minimal information regarding any interactions between the patient and different care providers. This lack of medical information can put a care provider to a great disadvantage as the patient may not be forthcoming enough to appropriately inform the care provider of such things as medications being taken, or other ailments that may impact healthcare decisions the care provider needs to make. As a result, medical errors may be made or expensive tests may be duplicated unnecessarily.
Another difficulty occurs where a patient may have a procedure scheduled in a hospital. The procedure may entail consultations with several medical personnel specializing in different disciplines. Typically these medical personnel will need to review the patient's medical history and clinical records. These records would include the results of any tests the patient may have undergone. This in all likelihood will involve interfacing with other care providers and testing facilities to have the clinical records forwarded to the care providers having a need to review them. It is often difficult to coordinate the timely collection of these records and the potential for human error is significant. In addition, even if the clinical records are supplied on a timely basis, different care providers within the hospital must forward the records to other care providers that need to view them. This further adds to the potential for human error.
Based on the foregoing, it is the general object of the present invention to improve upon or overcome the problems associated with the prior art.